About the College
About the College
The College of Human Medicine (CHM) has a national reputation for its history of innovation and excellence in medical student education. More than 3,100 M.D. graduates of the College have experienced a unique combination of basic science education on the campus of a large, land-grant University, and clinical education in one of six campuses located across the state of Michigan. More than 200 paid and 3200 volunteer faculty are committed to teaching core institutional values that mark CHM graduates as unique and exemplary: respect of and care for patients, commitment to community, and the incorporation of psychological, social, and spiritual elements into care delivery.
CHM was founded in 1964 in response to Michigan's need for primary care physicians. It was the first community-integrated medical school, with a curriculum that emphasized a patient-centered philosophy and a biopsychosocial approach to caring for patients. Founding faculty held the philosophies of William Osler and Francis Peabody, 19th century physicians who asserted, "the secret to the care for the patient is caring for the patient," an attitude that continues to guide the school’s curriculum and policies to this day.
CHM continues to teach students to focus n patients’ individual needs while developing an understanding of medical science and medicine’s place in society. CHM encourages a cooperative and collaborative learning environment. This, combined with individual attention within a comfortable class size of approximately 100 students, helps students maintain their passion and personal well-being as they confront the rigorous demands of medical education.
A Community-Based Experience
As a community-based medical school, the College of Human Medicine is uniquely positioned to provide students with comprehensive training in clinical settings that most closely parallel the environment in which many physicians practice. During the third and fourth year of the CHM program (Block III), students complete a series of required and elective clerkships at one of MSU’s six community-based program sites. The sites are located in Flint, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Saginaw and the Upper Peninsula.
Each community program is aligned with area hospitals and outpatient facilities that join Michigan State University in creating a rich educational environment for students. All community programs offer electives in both specialty and subspecialty areas. Research opportunities are also available.
Our Mission
The College of Human Medicine at Michigan State University is committed to educating exemplary physicians and scholars, discovering and disseminating new knowledge, and providing service at home and abroad. We enhance our communities by providing outstanding primary and specialty care, promoting the dignity and inclusion of all people, and responding to the needs of the medically underserved.
Curriculum
The CHM medical education program is designed for individual students to succeed. The program is divided into three “Blocks”:
- Block I, the first year, is comprised of a 3-semester sequence of courses that include basic sciences, behavioral sciences, clinical skills, clinical correlations, and mentor groups. The course format includes large group lectures, laboratories, small group discussions, and web-based projects. Students begin their training in clinical skills the first semester of enrollment and are exposed to real patients, simulated patients, and patient models.
- Block II, the second year, a 32-week experience which emphasizes the application of basic biological and behavioral sciences to the understanding of human disease.
- Block III, the clinical years, an 80-week experience over two calendar years, scheduled at one of CHM’s six Community Campuses.
Positive Force for Michigan
CHM contributes to the well-being of Michigan in a number of different ways:
People
The College of Human Medicine (CHM) at Michigan State University has a significant impact on Michigan's population. With its unique community campus-based structure, CHM physicians and medical students are positioned in six communities (Flint, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Saginaw and the Upper Peninsula) throughout the state, serving some of Michigan's most underserved and vulnerable residents.
Economy
CHM benefits Michigan through its research initiatives, which attracted more than $31 million in external research funds last year alone. The college also creates and sustains Michigan jobs by employing nearly 200 full-time faculty members and many support staff.
Health Care
The MSU patient base exceeds 2 million Michigan residents. A significant proportion of CHM medical students remain in Michigan to practice medicine after graduation.
Diversity
CHM is currently educates over 250 medical students, more than half of whom are women. There is also significant racial and ethnic diversity at CHM with racial minorities comprising more than 20 percent of the student body.
Technology
CHM is one of a small handful of institutions with multiple 3 Tesla MRI scanners dedicated to research. CHM was also the first commercial institution to house a state-of-the-art PET/CT Scanner complete with its own cyclotron to produce the necessary isotopes for the scanner.
Research
CHM is home to one of only four national Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Centers and collaborates with McLaren Health System to direct the Great Lakes Cancer Institute. CHM also administers the nation's only international research training program in the prevention of drug abuse, the nation's only program project grant in neurohumoral control of veins in hypertension, the nation's only training grant in perinatal epidemiology and the nation's largest ongoing epidemiological study of the bio-psycho-social origins of preterm delivery.
Related Resources
